Drug & supplement interaction

Prickly Pear Cactus + Fenofibrate

Fenofibrate brand names: Tricor, Fenofibrate, Lipidil Micro, Lipidil Supra, Antara, and others.

No Known Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated July 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 20, 2026
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Prickly Pear Cactus and Fenofibrate in our sources. Absence of a documented interaction is not the same as proven safety, and does not guarantee one does not exist. Do not start, stop, or change a medication or supplement based on this page; confirm with your pharmacist or doctor first. Additionally, although there is no interaction, the two are separately associated with some of the same side effects, which would make a new symptom harder to attribute to one or the other.

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Interaction report

Prickly Pear Cactus and Fenofibrate

We checked these two against our interaction database. Here is what we found.

No Known Interaction Found

We did not find a documented interaction between Fenofibrate and Prickly Pear Cactus in our sources. This does not guarantee that the combination is completely free of risk — there is often limited research on supplements and herbal products, especially around drug interactions.

If you decide to take both, the practical routine is simple: add one new thing at a time and note the date you started it. If the combination is going to disagree with you, it usually shows in the first days to a couple of weeks — and a start date turns “I’ve been feeling off” into something a pharmacist can actually work with. Do not stop a prescribed medicine on your own.

Always talk with your pharmacist or doctor before making changes to your medications or supplements, particularly if you take several medications or have an ongoing health condition.

Prickly Pear Cactus safety at a glance

Prickly Pear Cactu... overall Use caution Generally well tolerated as food, but supplement safety is less studied.
Pregnancy Avoid Not enough safety data, so avoid supplement amounts during pregnancy.
Breastfeeding Avoid Not enough safety data, so avoid supplement amounts while breastfeeding.

Safety guidance is general; always confirm with your pharmacist or doctor for your situation.

Still wondering about combining Fenofibrate and Prickly Pear Cactus? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Fenofibrate

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Fenofibrate is filed under 3 classifications — cytochrome p450 2c9 (cyp2c9) inhibitors, hepatotoxic drugs, oral drugs. Prickly Pear Cactus has documented interactions with 1 drug class — the most serious being antidiabetes drugs (moderate) — and none of Fenofibrate’s classifications are among them.

Classification data comes from our licensed Natural Medicines dataset. A medication can belong to classes beyond those recorded there, so this describes how the check was run — it is not a safety guarantee.

Keep it in perspective

Prickly Pear Cactus Does Interact With Other Medications

Prickly Pear Cactus has 86 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Fenofibrate isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 86 No known interaction 2,744 (incl. Fenofibrate)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Prickly Pear Cactus

Covers the 2,830 medications we’ve checked against Prickly Pear Cactus. Pick one to open its full report.

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Prickly Pear Cactus and Fenofibrate May Share Several of the Same Side Effects

This is not an interaction. Neither one changes how your body handles the other, and nothing here says they react together. What our sources do show is that each has separately been linked to the effects below — so taking both can make those effects more likely to turn up, and harder to pin on one or the other if they do. One of them is worth acting on rather than waiting out — marked below.

  • Hives Worth acting on Additional detail

    Prickly Pear Cactus

    “Orally, prickly pear cactus has been linked to rare cases of urticaria and pruritus. In a clinical study of 41 patients taking prickly pear cactus pad ethanolic extract, three patients experienced pruritus and one patient experienced urticaria.”

    Prickly Pear Cactus · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in peripheral arterial disease (pad).

    1 source cited
    1. 105903. Han EH, Lim MK, Lee S, et al. Efficacy of Ethanolic Extract of Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten Stems for Improving Cognitive Function in Elderly Subjects 55-85 Years of Age: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study. J Med Food 2020;23(11):11

    Fenofibrate

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Fenofibrate. Read the label on DailyMed ›

  • Headache reported in 4.5% of FDA reports for Fenofibrate Additional detail

    Prickly Pear Cactus

    “Orally, prickly pear cactus has been linked to rare cases of headache, insomnia, and dizziness. In a clinical study of 41 patients taking prickly pear cactus pad ethanolic extract, two patients experienced headache, one patient experienced dizziness, and one patient experienced insomnia.”

    Prickly Pear Cactus · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in cluster headache.

    2 sources cited
    1. 65266. Steinberg, J. M. and Eitan, A. Prickly pear fruit bezoar presenting as rectal perforation in an elderly patient. Int J Colorectal Dis. 2003;18(4):365-367. PubMed
    2. 105903. Han EH, Lim MK, Lee S, et al. Efficacy of Ethanolic Extract of Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten Stems for Improving Cognitive Function in Elderly Subjects 55-85 Years of Age: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study. J Med Food 2020;23(11):11

    Fenofibrate

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Fenofibrate, and in voluntary FDA adverse-event reports. Read the label on DailyMed ›

  • Nausea reported in 5.8% of FDA reports for Fenofibrate Additional detail

    Prickly Pear Cactus

    “Orally, prickly pear cactus may cause mild diarrhea, dyspepsia, nausea, increased stool volume and frequency, and abdominal fullness. Cases of low colonic obstruction and rectal phytobezoars resulting in rectal perforation have been reported for patients who ingested prickly pear cactus fruit seeds. However, these events are extremely rare and attributed to the ingestion of a large number of fruits.”

    Prickly Pear Cactus · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in diarrhea.

    4 sources cited
    1. 7028. Rayburn K, Martinez R, Escobedo M, et al. Glycemic effects of various species of nopal (Opuntia sp.) in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Texas J Rural Health 1998;26:68-76.
    2. 65266. Steinberg, J. M. and Eitan, A. Prickly pear fruit bezoar presenting as rectal perforation in an elderly patient. Int J Colorectal Dis. 2003;18(4):365-367. PubMed
    3. 105903. Han EH, Lim MK, Lee S, et al. Efficacy of Ethanolic Extract of Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten Stems for Improving Cognitive Function in Elderly Subjects 55-85 Years of Age: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study. J Med Food 2020;23(11):11
    4. 65260. Kleiner, O., Cohen, Z., and Mares, A. J. Low colonic obstruction due to Opuntia ficus indica seeds: the aftermath of enjoying delicious cactus fruits. Acta Paediatr. 2002;91(5):606-607.

    Fenofibrate

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Fenofibrate, and in voluntary FDA adverse-event reports. Read the label on DailyMed ›

Reported for Prickly Pear Cactus but not commonly for Fenofibrate: stomach upset, dizziness, diarrhea and trouble sleeping.

Effects for Fenofibrate come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Prickly Pear Cactus come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 35,249 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Fenofibrate that mention that effect — a reporting proportion, not an incidence rate and not evidence the drug caused it. Wording is matched across sources by our own clinical vocabulary, so treat this as a prompt to pay attention, not a diagnosis.

Overlapping uses

What Fenofibrate Is Prescribed For, and What Prickly Pear Cactus Has Been Studied For

These two come up together because they touch the same health topic — not because they do the same job. Fenofibrate is a prescription medicine with approved uses on its FDA label. Prickly Pear Cactus is a supplement: what follows is what researchers have looked at it for, and how strong that evidence is.

Fenofibrate is prescribed for: Fenofibrate is used alongside a cholesterol-lowering diet in adults to improve abnormal lipid levels. Tricor (tablet) and fenofibrate tablets are indicated to lower LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol), total cholesterol, triglycerides, and apolipoprotein B, and to raise HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) in adults with primary hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol) or mixed dyslipidemia (mixed abnormal lipid levels). They are also used to treat severe hypertriglyceridemia (very high triglycerides). Antara and Lipofen (capsules) are indicated to reduce triglyceride levels in adults with severe hypertriglyceridemia, and to lower LDL cholesterol in adults with primary hyperlipidemia when other recommended LDL-lowering therapies cannot be used.

Read the rest of what Fenofibrate is prescribed for

Fenofibrate has not been shown to reduce heart attacks or cardiovascular deaths in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Prickly Pear Cactus has been studied for:

  • Diabetes Natural Medicines rates the evidence for Prickly Pear Cactus: Possibly Effective Read what the research shows

    Prickly Pear Cactus for diabetes

    Oral prickly pear cactus might help reduce postprandial blood glucose in patients with diabetes.

  • Hypercholesterolemia studied, not established Prickly Pear Cactus has been studied for this. Natural Medicines rates the evidence: Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate Read what the research shows

    Prickly Pear Cactus for hypercholesterolemia

    It is unclear if oral prickly pear cactus lowers cholesterol levels.

Effectiveness ratings and the research summaries above are the verbatim record from the Natural Medicines database, which grades evidence from “Effective” down to “Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate”. A rating below the top of that scale means researchers have looked at it — not that it works, and never that it can stand in for a prescribed medicine. Do not stop or replace Fenofibrate on your own; if you are taking Prickly Pear Cactus for the same health topic, tell your prescriber, especially if the medicine is being adjusted to a target.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Fenofibrate

This page covers Prickly Pear Cactus only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Fenofibrate page lists 59 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Beer (major), Siberian Cocklebur (major), Wine (major) and Ashwagandha (moderate).

By severity: 4 major · 46 moderate · 9 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Fenofibrate page

“Fenofibrate (Tricor, Antara) is a cholesterol and triglyceride medicine that can strain the liver on its own, so this list of 59 supplements deserves genuine care rather than a shrug. Most of it, 38 ingredients, involves herbs that also stress the liver, ashwagandha among them, and stacking those effects is the risk that matters most h…”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Fenofibrate interaction page

One more smart check

Taking Prickly Pear Cactus as Part of a Dietary Supplement Product? Check It for Interactions

We hold 432 real supplement products containing Prickly Pear Cactus, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Prickly Pear Cactus. Even though Prickly Pear Cactus itself has no known interaction with Fenofibrate, another ingredient on your label might. Find your product and we’ll check every ingredient on its label:

How much people look this up

Where Prickly Pear Cactus and Fenofibrate Sit Against Everything Else

Out of every supplement and medication people look up on HelloPharmacist, here is where these two land this week — and which way each has been moving.

Supplement Prickly Pear Cactus
Top half

#431 of 1,452 supplements looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today
Medication Fenofibrate
Top half

#994 of 2,830 medications looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today

Position among everything looked up on this site, not a measure of how commonly either one is used or how important it is. A supplement can climb this list because of a news story. It counts every request to the page, automated ones included, and nothing here identifies anyone.

Where does our data come from?
  • Source: the Natural Medicines (TRC Healthcare) clinical database — the evidence-graded professional reference for herb & supplement interactions.
  • Citation library: 103,510 references behind our interaction content, 65,311 of them resolved to verified PubMed/DOI sources. See every Prickly Pear Cactus reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 20, 2026. The Prickly Pear Cactus and Fenofibrate records this page draws on were last updated July 10, 2026.
  • What “no known interaction” means: no documented interaction in the sources above — not a guarantee of safety. Supplements are studied far less than prescription drugs, so we say exactly what the evidence supports, and nothing more.
Data structure & sourcing designed and verified by .
Supplement

About Prickly Pear Cactus

What is Prickly Pear Cactus?

  • Blood sugar control
  • High cholesterol
  • Hangover symptoms
  • Digestive health
  • Antioxidant support

Prickly pear cactus is a desert plant whose pads and fruit are eaten as food and taken as a supplement, mainly for blood sugar, cholesterol, and hangover symptoms. Some small studies suggest modest benefits, but the evidence is limited and not strong enough to rely on it as a treatment. Talk with your pharmacist or doctor before using it, especially if you take medication for diabetes.

Opuntia ficus-indica · Cactaceae · Pads (cladodes), fruit, and flowers · Capsules, powder, juice, dried fruit, fresh pads, and extracts

An interaction check asks whether these two react with each other — it does not ask whether Prickly Pear Cactus is a good idea for someone in your situation. Here is what our Prickly Pear Cactus record says about it on its own.

Prickly Pear Cactus: dosing

There is no standardized, official dose for prickly pear cactus supplements. The right amount depends on the product, the form (capsule, powder, juice, or extract), and how it is being used.Because doses are not well established, follow the directions on the product label and do not exceed them. A pharmacist can help you review a specific product and decide whether it is appropriate for you, especially if you have diabetes or take other medicines.

From our Prickly Pear Cactus monograph — the full record covers uses, side effects and every documented interaction.

Read the full Prickly Pear Cactus monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Fenofibrate

What Is Fenofibrate Used For?

Brand names: Tricor, Fenofibrate, Lipidil Micro, Lipidil Supra, Antara, Lofibra, Triglide, Lipidil EZ

Fenofibrate is used alongside a cholesterol-lowering diet in adults to improve abnormal lipid levels. Tricor (tablet) and fenofibrate tablets are indicated to lower LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol), total cholesterol, triglycerides, and apolipoprotein B, and to raise HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) in adults with primary hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol) or mixed dyslipidemia (mixed abnormal lipid levels). They are also used to treat severe hypertriglyceridemia (very high triglycerides).

Antara and Lipofen (capsules) are indicated to reduce triglyceride levels in adults with severe hypertriglyceridemia, and to lower LDL cholesterol in adults with primary hyperlipidemia when other recommended LDL-lowering therapies cannot be used. Fenofibrate has not been shown to reduce heart attacks or cardiovascular deaths in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Fenofibrate

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (35,249 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Fatigue 2,173 reports
Diarrhea 2,103 reports
Nausea 2,045 reports
Headache 1,571 reports
Dyspnea 1,527 reports
See full Fenofibrate drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Prickly Pear Cactus

Browse every other medication we’ve checked against Prickly Pear Cactus — both the ones with a known interaction and the ones without. Select any drug for the full detail.

0Major
86Moderate
0Minor
2,743No known interaction
86 Moderate 2,743 No interaction
Moderate

86 interactions

Showing 60 of 86 moderate interactions — see all 86 on the Prickly Pear Cactus page.

No interaction 2,743 drugs checked — show the list

We also checked Prickly Pear Cactus against these medications and found no known interaction in our sources. Open any page to confirm.

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 2,743 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Prickly Pear Cactus list.

See the full Prickly Pear Cactus interactions page
See every supplement checked against Fenofibrate, ranked by severity
Evidence & sources

Prickly Pear Cactus References

The 9 references that drive our Prickly Pear Cactus monograph and interaction data, from the evidence-graded Natural Medicines (TRC Healthcare) database. Citations with a link open the study on PubMed or the publisher’s site.

  1. Meckes-Lozyoa M, Roman-Ramos R. Opuntia streptacantha; a coadjutor in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Am J Chin Med 1986;14:116-8.
  2. Rayburn K, Martinez R, Escobedo M, et al. Glycemic effects of various species of nopal (Opuntia sp.) in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Texas J Rural Health 1998;26:68-76.
  3. Bush TM, Rayburn KS, Holloway SW, et al. Adverse interactions between herbal and dietary substances and prescription medications: a clinical survey. Altern Ther Health Med 2007;13:30-5.
  4. Sobieraj DM, Freyer CW. Probable hypoglycemic adverse drug reaction associated with prickly pear cactus, glipizide, and metformin in a patient with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Ann Pharmacother 2010;44:1334-7. PubMed
  5. Kleiner, O., Cohen, Z., and Mares, A. J. Low colonic obstruction due to Opuntia ficus indica seeds: the aftermath of enjoying delicious cactus fruits. Acta Paediatr. 2002;91(5):606-607.
  6. Steinberg, J. M. and Eitan, A. Prickly pear fruit bezoar presenting as rectal perforation in an elderly patient. Int J Colorectal Dis. 2003;18(4):365-367. PubMed
  7. Meckes-Lozyoa, M. and Roman-Ramos, R. Opuntia streptacantha: a coadjutor in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Am J Chin Med 1986;14(3-4):116-118.
  8. Onakpoya IJ, O'Sullivan J, Heneghan CJ. The effect of cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) on body weight and cardiovascular risk factors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. Nutrition. 2015;31(5):640-6. PubMed
  9. Han EH, Lim MK, Lee S, et al. Efficacy of Ethanolic Extract of Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten Stems for Improving Cognitive Function in Elderly Subjects 55-85 Years of Age: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study. J Med Food 2020;23(11):11

Medication overviews come from MedlinePlus (NIH); supplement label data from the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database. Content is written and reviewed by licensed HelloPharmacist pharmacists — see our data sources and editorial standards.

Pharmacist Counseling Corner

Taking Prickly Pear Cactus and Fenofibrate Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Prickly Pear Cactus with Fenofibrate?
We do not list a known interaction between Prickly Pear Cactus and Fenofibrate. That does not guarantee the combination is risk-free, so confirm with your pharmacist or doctor — especially if you take other medications or have a health condition.
Do Prickly Pear Cactus and Fenofibrate have any of the same side effects?
Yes — our sources link each of them separately to 3 of the same effects. That is not an interaction: neither changes how your body handles the other. It does mean that if one of those effects turns up, it can be harder to tell which one is behind it. They are listed on this page with the source behind each.
Are Prickly Pear Cactus and Fenofibrate used for the same thing?
They overlap in purpose, which usually means the real question is whether you need both rather than whether they are safe together. This page lists the shared uses and how strong the evidence is for Prickly Pear Cactus in each. That is a conversation for your prescriber, especially if Fenofibrate is being adjusted to a target.
How was the Prickly Pear Cactus and Fenofibrate combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Fenofibrate is filed under 3 classifications, and Prickly Pear Cactus has documented interactions with 1 drug class — none of Fenofibrate's classifications are among them. A medication can belong to classes beyond those recorded in our dataset, so this describes how the check was run rather than guaranteeing safety.
Does Prickly Pear Cactus interact with any other medications?
Yes. Prickly Pear Cactus has 86 documented drug interactions in our database — Fenofibrate is simply not one of them. If you take anything else, it is worth checking each one; they are all listed on this page.
Does Fenofibrate interact with any supplements?
Yes. Fenofibrate has documented interactions with 59 supplements in our database — Prickly Pear Cactus is not one of them. The Fenofibrate interaction page linked on this page lists every one, ranked by severity.

Written and reviewed by the HelloPharmacist editorial staff. Our editorial policy

Where next

Keep Exploring

Prickly Pear Cactus monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Fenofibrate drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Fenofibrate supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Fenofibrate, ranked by severity Supplement interaction checker Check any supplement or product against your medications Browse medications A–Z Every drug we’ve checked against herbs & supplements References The 9 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Fenofibrate and Prickly Pear Cactus?

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This information is for education only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always check with your pharmacist or doctor before starting, stopping, or combining supplements and medications.